Page:Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, Volume 1.djvu/397

 11. REINSCH: COLONIAL COMMON LAW 383 land by possession for five years, and the use of the word of God as a rule in criminal cases. In another report in 1678 he states that the laws of England are neither in the whole nor in any part of them valid or pleadable in the colonial courts until received by the General Assembly. ^ The colony always resisted claims of a right of appeal to England ; this was one of the most important points of controversy between the colonial court and the home govern- ment after 1660. In that year the colonists instructed Captain John Leveritt as their agent in England to resist any claims or assertions of appellate jurisdiction, because that would render government and authority in the colony ineffectual and bring the court into contempt with all sorts of people. In 1667, the Privy Council made specific objection to the laws of Massachusetts repugnant to the laws of England. The Attorney General submitted a catalogue of such laws.^ In answer to these objections the general court made several amendments in 1681 ; ^ the law concerning rebellious sons, concerning Quakers, and the law against keeping Christmas were left out; but no alteration was made in the law of marriage and Sunday legislation. In connection with this controversy the general court again asserted the independ- ence of the colony from English laws.* They speak of the laws of England as bounded within four seas and not reach- ing to America. The American subjects not being repre- sented in Parliament should not be impeded in their trade by Parliament. Before this time legal proceedings had been carried on in the name of the colony. One of the results of the controversy was that the general court yielded in this respect, and process was hereafter issued in the name of the king. After the charter had been annulled, there followed a strong and continued effort to introduce the common law. By the commission of Sir Edmund Andros, in 1688 the gov- • Palfrey, quoting from Phillip's collection of manuscripts. History of New England, III, 309. • Massachusetts Colonial Records, V, 321.
 * Edward Randolph, Prince Society Publications, II, 311.
 * Ibid., V, 198, 200.